It Flies! A Unique Flying Competition

Our Merlin flight simulation laboratory provides aerospace students with a unique opportunity to showcase their designs through It Flies! USA and UK competitions. The competitions are held at the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, USA, in April and Swansea, Wales, UK, in June. Air Force lieutenant colonels, majors and generals from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) "fly" the student-designed simulations and contribute significantly to the students' aircraft design knowledge-base. Click here for more information about our Merlin Flight Simulator Lab.

It Flies! USA 2018

This spring, Will Cammack, mechanical and aerospace engineering major from the University of Dayton, USA, won first prize for his simulation of a KC-135 stratotanker during the It Flies! USA competition.

Cammack's next stop is Manchester, UK, where his design will compete at the June 8 It Flies! UK event. Director of the Merlin Flight Simulator Lab, Dr. Aaron Altman, will also be at the event. In the UK, Cammack's stratotanker design will challenge entries from the universities of Manchester, Swansea, Amsterdam, University of South Wales, Teesside and Dayton. Good Luck, Will!

First Prize - Will Cammack, University of Dayton

Cammack received $500 from Merlin Products, a student membership to The Royal Aeronautical Society and coins from SETP for his simulation of a KC-135 stratotanker.

Prize for The Most Innovative Design

$200 and copies of The Aviation Historian went to Oliver Williams, Jason Hitchman and Matthew Uren from The University of Manchester, UK, for their simulation of ‘Dragonfly’ a flying car that drives and flies.

Prize for the Best Project Presentation

The book, Test Flying at Old Wright Field and copies of The Aviation Historian went to James Shipway, Bronwen Hadden and Dragos Sovar from The University of South Wales for their Blended Wing Body cargo aircraft based on the Airbus A320.

IT Flies! UK 2018

Nine teams entered It Flies UK 2018. They came from the University of Dayton, University of South Wales, University of Manchester, Swansea University and Amsterdam University. Dave Southwood and Gordon McClymont from the Empire Test Pilots School and Dr. David Philpott, aerodynamicist, judged the event at the University of Manchester. Click here to read more from the Aerospace UK magazine.

First Place:

Business jet/flying boat by Kristian Groot, Amsterdam University

Blended wing aircraft with a payload of 20,000kg by Clayton Humphreys-Jennings, University of South Wales

Best Project Presentation:

First: Next generation strike aircraft designed to replace the Harrier by James Ellis, University of Manchester

Prizes for the Most Innovative Design: The University of Manchester, Charles-Antoine Lassonery, Kavin Kumar and Seiya Sato. Hybrid aircraft with better performance and efficiency compared to B757 and A321neo.

Prizes for the Best Project Presentation: First: The University of Manchester VTOL aircraft.Second: The University of Manchester Hybrid aircraft.Third: The University of Dayton, Tim Gerham, Acrobatic aircraft.